Elections

SB 2588, the SHIELD Act, requires Mississippi election officials to verify U.S. citizenship for voter registration applicants using the federal SAVE database when initial checks raise concerns. Officials must notify applicants to provide proof of citizenship (like birth certificates or passports), maintain records confidential, and submit annual reports to the Secretary of State on flagged applicants and removals. The law mandates yearly comparisons between state voter records and SAVE, exempts SAVE data from public disclosure under Mississippi’s public records law, and prohibits removals based solely on SAVE matches without verification. It affects election officials and applicants whose citizenship is questioned during registration, focusing on procedural verification without changing voter eligibility standards.

HB 858 prohibits voting machines (OMR equipment) from establishing wireless connections during elections, requiring them to be incapable of such connectivity while in use. This directly affects Mississippi counties purchasing voting systems through the state's Voting Modernization Grant Program, which funds equipment meeting this new standard. The bill amends existing law to require that all voting systems used after January 1, 2024, cannot have wireless capabilities during elections, though hardware enabling wireless may remain if disabled during voting. Counties must comply with this requirement when applying for grant funds to buy or upgrade voting equipment.

This Mississippi bill would change absentee ballot rules for federal elections if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal laws override state laws on mail-in voting. Under the new rules, all absentee ballots would need to be received by election day rather than postmarked by election day, and voters without disabilities or age 65+ would need to mark their ballots in front of a registrar who must stay in their office. The bill also requires that ballots be sent only through the U.S. Postal Service or approved carriers like UPS and FedEx, and maintains restrictions on who can help voters mark their ballots. These changes would apply only to federal elections and would take effect only after a specific Supreme Court ruling is made public.

This bill requires the Mississippi Secretary of State to provide sample ballots to county election commissioners at least 60 days before an election, increasing the current requirement of 55 days. The change applies to all elections unless a primary runoff certification deadline makes the 60-day timeline impossible to meet, in which case the Secretary must publish the sample ballot as soon as practicable. The bill directly affects the Mississippi Secretary of State and county election commissioners by adjusting the timeline for distributing sample ballots to voters. This adjustment aims to give election officials more time to prepare and distribute accurate ballot samples before voting occurs.

HB 630 amends Mississippi law to allow qualified county residents (not required to live within a municipality's limits) to serve as poll managers for municipal elections in small municipalities with fewer than 2,000 residents. Currently, poll managers for municipal elections must be residents of the municipality itself, but this bill changes that requirement for towns under 2,000 people. The key provision removes the residency restriction for small municipalities, enabling election officials to appoint qualified county voters as poll managers. This affects municipal election administration in Mississippi's smallest incorporated areas, streamlining staffing for local elections. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026.